December 6, 2005

Wu Man, star of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road tours and master of the ancient Chinese lute, makes her Santa Barbara debut at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Wu Man, pipa
• Wu Man is a master of the ancient Chinese lute
• She is a star of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road tours
• The performance will feature the gorgeous work “Ancient Dances,” a fascinating exploration of Chinese calligraphy in video and music
• Wednesday, January 25 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $30 / UCSB students: $17
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

Star of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road tours, Wu Man, the internationally acclaimed pipa—ancient Chinese lute—virtuoso, will make her Santa Barbara debut on Wednesday, January 25 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Her dramatic, powerful playing is at home with traditional Chinese music as well as contemporary work by artists like Lou Harrison and Tan Dun. For the second half of her program, she will be accompanied by a percussionist and perform “Ancient Dances,” an evocative and gorgeous exploration of Chinese calligraphy in music, poetry and video. The Los Angeles Times hails her as “the artist most responsible for bringing the pipa to the Western World,” while the Boston Globe writes that she is “one of the rare musicians who has changed the history of the instrument she plays.”

Wu Man has written the following about the work “Ancient Dances:” “This project attracted me very much because Chinese pipa and calligraphy both were crown jewels in Chinese culture. Each has a history of thousands of years, during which they played crucial roles in education, entertainment, meditation and the development of an intellectual. Like the pipa and poetry, the pipa and calligraphy have an important association, and draw from the same artistic inspiration. They both pursue the beauty of structure and formality.

“I am very interested in exploring the inner relationship between artistic forms of pipa music, poems from the Tang Dynasty (610-906 A.D., one of the most prosperous period in Chinese history, well known for achievements in poetry, calligraphy, music and trade), and calligraphy. The playing style of the pipa, which consists of ‘civil’ (tranquil and elegant) and ‘martial’ (dramatic and military) fits very well with the hand movement of calligraphy. I believe that by combining the musical power of the pipa with these elements through this project, I will be able to create a new dimension for pipa performance and provide a comprehensive experience of classical Chinese culture for the audience.”

Having been brought up in the Pudong School of pipa playing, one of the most prestigious classical styles of Imperial China, Wu Man graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she became the first recipient of a master’s degree in pipa. She is recognized as an outstanding exponent of the traditional repertoire as well as a leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music. She currently lives in Boston where she was selected as a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University. Wu Man was selected by Yo-Yo Ma as the winner of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize in music and communication. She is also the first artist from China to have performed at the White House with the noted cellist.

When in China, Wu Man received many awards, including first prize in the 1st National Music Performance Competition. She also participated in many groundbreaking premieres of exciting works by a new generation of Chinese composers. Since moving to the USA, she has continued to champion new works and has inspired new pipa literature from composers Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng and many others.

Highlights of Wu Man’s 2004-05 season included the world premiere of The Sound of a Voice musical theater piece by Philip Glass and David Henry Hwang for the American Repertory Theater in Boston, an appearance at the Winter Arts Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia with Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists, U.S. and European tours with the Silk Road Project, the U.K. premiere of Bright Sheng’s The Song and Dance of Tears with Yo-Yo Ma at the London Proms, a featured concert with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society that included Tan Dan’s Ghost Opera, and the premiere of Orion, a multi-artist piece written in collaboration with Philip Glass at the Cultural Olympiad 2004 in Greece.

The pipa’s history stretches more than two thousand years. During the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.–220 A.D.), instruments with long, straight-necks and round resonators with snake skin or wooden sound boards were played with a forward and backward plucking motion that sounded like “pi” and “pa” to fanciful ears. Hence, all plucked instruments in ancient times were called “pipa.” During the Tang dynasty, by way of Centre Asia, the introduction of a crooked neck lute with a pear-shaped body contributed to the pipa’s evolution. Today’s instrument consists of twenty-six frets and six ledges arranged as stops and its four strings are tuned respectively to A, D, E, A. The pipa’s many left and right hand fingering techniques, rich tonal qualities and resonant timber give its music expressiveness and beauty.

Wu Man is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by Casa Santa Barbara and KDB Classical Radio. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $17 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show. Ticket prices are subject to convenience fees. Tickets are on sale now and can also be purchased at the door, if still available.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.